1. Field of the Invention
The invention comprises a bracket for supporting medical instruments in a sterilizable tray in which the bracket body is formed primarily from resilient silicone and is strengthened by a relatively rigid spring tempered metal interior skeleton backbone.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common practice to put medical instruments on trays and place them into high temperature environments for the purposes of sterilization. Steam heated autoclaves are probably the most common device used for killing germs and other biohazards. The instruments to be sterilized are generally placed in trays which, in turn, are placed into the cleansing environment In order to keep the instruments from moving, it is fairly common practice to separate and support them with brackets.
Instrument supporting brackets can take several different forms. Perhaps the most common form is a custom tray which includes custom made brackets laid out according to the specific request of the customer. An outline of the instrument to be supported is frequently printed on the bottom surface of the tray so that accurate instrument positioning is achieved. It is also common practice to place an English language legend, such as xe2x80x9cRussian Tissue Forcepsxe2x80x9d adjacent to the outline of the desired instrument. The custom made brackets, which generally have an irregular shape, are then permanently attached to the tray with rivets. While such trays have advantages, they have several disadvantages too. First of all, they are expensive and time consuming to produce because each tray has to be individualized for each specific customer""s request. Second, brackets are not removable and, therefore, there is no flexibility in the layout of the tray. Instrument holding trays, such as described are sold under the trademark MEDITRAY(copyright) by Case Medical, Inc., 65 Railroad Avenue, Ridgefield, N.J. 07657.
Another technique for attaching prior art brackets to a sterilizable tray is to have the brackets slide into a keyway that is provided for on the tray itself.
In an effort to further reduce costs, instrument holding brackets have recently become available which comprise stainless steel or aluminum bodies covered with a thin coat of nylon. The brackets typically have an L-shaped cross section. A pair of studs is attached to the bottom of the L-shaped bracket with nylon serving as the adhesive. The stainless steel or aluminum brackets just described can then be placed selectively or randomly on a tray having a plurality of regularly spaced perforations therein.
While the foregoing describe improvements in the art, they still do not present an optimal structure. What is desired is a bracket that will: withstand high temperatures; provide secure support for heavy. instruments, yet light support for delicate instrumentation; provide for complete surrounding by steam; provide for the ability to grab and securely hold heavy and delicate instruments; provide flexibility and strong support at the same time; and, also, provide for the ability to place brackets at a wide variety of locations in order to accommodate a wide spectrum of instruments.
It was in the context of the foregoing prior art and the above identified needs that the present invention arose.
Briefly described, the invention comprises a bracket for supporting medical instruments in a sterilizable tray in which the bracket body is formed primarily from resilient silicone and is strengthened by a relatively rigid metal interior skeleton backbone. The resilient silicone bracket body includes a plurality of medical instrument receiving indentations or valleys separated by intervening peaks. Resilient ribs formed in the instrument receiving indentations gently support the medical instruments and optimally allow sterilizing steam to be exposed to the maximum surface area of the instrument. The spring tempered stainless steel skeleton backbone is encapsulated by the silicone body. The skeleton also includes peaks and valleys that mimic and align with the peaks and valleys of the silicone body and provide additional strength thereto. Flow through holes or apertures in the skeleton backbone permit the silicone to optimally bond with the backbone. Threaded studs are mechanically attached to the skeleton backbone. Each stud includes a slotted head which attaches to the bottom edge of the stainless steel skeleton backbone, a widened, ring-like midsection, and a threaded end that is distal from the slotted end of the stud. The slotted end and most of the round midsection of the stud are also encapsulated in the silicone. The bracket is preferably attached to the tray by placing the threaded portions of the studs through the perforations in the tray and attaching them thereto with lock nuts.